Two month trial of Platinum Plus

[MH_fan]

I also don't believe that there are 600000 Plat+ members...

 

[kairos1901]

Um... no. There's only a very small number of Platinum Plus members.

Thats' good to know; you sound like you have some more accurate numbers? Care to give us a rough number?

If the number is small, that would make the request for Beyond passes seem more attainable!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thats' good to know; you sound like you have some more accurate numbers? Care to give us a rough number?

If the number is small, that would make the request for Beyond passes seem more attainable!

VA issues an annual ‘year in review’ snapshot to all its velocity members. There are some folk who only had flights numbering in the dozens and they were in the ‘top 1%’ of flyers. They might have qualified for platinum under the old rules, but would fall short under the new ones.

I’d be surprised if even 1% (120k members) were platinum plus?

 

[aus_flyer]

Thats' good to know; you sound like you have some more accurate numbers? Care to give us a rough number?

If the number is small, that would make the request for Beyond passes seem more attainable!

I suspect perhaps if you had heard “six hundred to a thousand” instead of “six hundred thousand” then that might be closer to the mark

 

[kallinch]

I also would welcome at least 4 x Beyond Invitations per year for Platinum Plus.

Interesting stat I came across this week; I called Virgin Customer Support on the 2nd of October, as my account had not been upgraded from Platinum yet. She advised that it would happen shortly as they "had 600,000 Platinum Plus members to upgrade"

- Based on released numbers from Virgin stating that they have 12million Velocity members, this is about 5% of all travellers.

- Is this the kind of number that others expected?

- It will be interesting to see in about 2 years how many P+ will be left once everyone is requalifying based on the minimum $18,000 spend alone (excluding DSC/TSC)

This is wrong. Total member base less than ~1K. For plat plus.

 

[kairos1901]

I suspect perhaps if you had heard “six hundred to a thousand” instead of “six hundred thousand” then that might be closer to the mark

Hopefully that was the more correct number
- if that’s the case, bring on Beyond Lounge Guest Passes!

- I believe that Beyond Lounge membership for decision makers starts to be on the table with a company / account annual spend of $300k (unlikely that will never be me!)

 

[simmomelb]

Hopefully that was the more correct number
- if that’s the case, bring on Beyond Lounge Guest Passes!

- I believe that Beyond Lounge membership for decision makers starts to be on the table with a company / account annual spend of $300k (unlikely that will never be me!)

With those sorts of suspected numbers, let's say ~1000, after the 2 month trial members drop, Beyond Lounges should be the lounge for Plat + at all times when departing MEL, SYD, BNE. It would add very few additional pax to each of those 3 lounges, at any one time.
An extra that, in my view, should be provided for someone spending ~$18k PA each.
Those lounges aren't that special and looking dated also, but they do have better quiet spaces and a more upmarket menu.

I'd be surprised if many corporates are spending 300k + PA with VA, for that sort of money they'll be looked after much better with Qantas, that's just a fact, unfortunately.
VA2 is mostly for leisure & some SME IMO.

 

[kairos1901]

With those sorts of suspected numbers, let's say ~1000, after the 2 month trial members drop, Beyond Lounges should be the lounge for Plat + at all times when departing MEL, SYD, BNE. It would add very few additional pax to each of those 3 lounges, at any one time.
An extra that, in my view, should be provided for someone spending ~$18k PA each.
Those lounges aren't that special and looking dated also, but they do have better quiet spaces and a more upmarket menu.

I'd be surprised if many corporates are spending 300k + PA with VA, for that sort of money they'll be looked after much better with Qantas, that's just a fact, unfortunately.
VA2 is mostly for leisure & some SME IMO.

Agree, let’s all petition VA for Beyond Access for Platinum Plus. It would certainly keep me just choosing Virgin without looking very hard at the kangaroo option.

Hopefully some Velocity Team Members / decision makers lurking here or scraping our requests!
BTW had great service from the Australian Based call Centre yesterday

 

[ozstamps]

I’d be surprised if even 1% (120k members) were platinum plus?

Me too.

And next year the herd of elites at all levels will thin even more.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Me too.

And next year the herd of elites at all levels will thin even more.

And me have then I would go back to VA! Packed lounges, uncleared dishes, not getting your preferred meal on board, crowded priority boarding lanes, difficulty getting on replacement flights during IRROPS. Those with $$ to spend perhaps weren't getting the services they need

 

[simmomelb]

Me too.

And next year the herd of elites at all levels will thin even more.

Yep, it'll be very interesting to see how the lounges look at this time next year.
Time will tell, but I think it'll be quite (& quiet) noticeable, but that was their intention, apparently.
Let's see if they pushed the needle too far in the opposite direction.

 

[MH_fan]

I don't think there will be a significant difference to how crowded the lounges are a year from now. If passengers can get in with their credit cards, it will be much the same, I reckon. But then, getting in on a credit card means Virgin gets more money and that's ultimately the goal (under the pretence of trying to make the lounges less crowded). They're happy for the lounges to be crowded if they're getting more money from it!

 

[simmomelb]

I don't think there will be a significant difference to how crowded the lounges are a year from now. If passengers can get in with their credit cards, it will be much the same, I reckon. But then, getting in on a credit card means Virgin gets more money and that's ultimately the goal (under the pretence of trying to make the lounges less crowded). They're happy for the lounges to be crowded if they're getting more money from it!

Just keep in mind, many don't have Amex credit cards (or don't want one due to their yearly fees), and they also only allow 1 pax entry per card (I don't have one and have zero interest in getting one).
I usually travel with others and frequently use the additional pax allowed on my status, and I am sure I'm not alone.
They will still see a big drop in pax entering due to the status holders dropping, along with their companions entering with them.
As an example of this, earlier this year, a group of 7 of us entered the lounge together, and only 2 of us had platinum to get those 7 in (could have let 8 in if we had an extra).
I agree they are happy to let Amex card pax in, it's all about the $$ - very common for airlines to do this with a CC company.

 

[IainF]

I've gone over the 2000 SCs in total but still need another 400 VA flown SCs which I will do over the next 2 months. domestically.
I have booked two BNE-LHR J flights for January and April 2026 with the full VA codes on QR, so that will give me at least another 800 SCs on VA flights there.
I won't get to QR Plat so am ditching it for the time being.
Add in multiple BNE-SIN & BNE-SIN-NRT J flights and I will end my year at close to 4000Scs in total.
I am also running the SQ PPS program alongside the VA one so that will keep my SQ Gold for another year.
Be very interested to see if Plat+ makes any difference at all.

 

[simmomelb]

Add in multiple BNE-SIN & BNE-SIN-NRT J flights and I will end my year at close to 4000Scs in total.
I am also running the SQ PPS program alongside the VA one so that will keep my SQ Gold for another year.
Be very interested to see if Plat+ makes any difference at all.

Good lord, someone here is swimming in status heaven
Good luck with it all and keep us updated.

 

[serfty]

Yep, it'll be very interesting to see how the lounges look at this time next year.
Time will tell, but I think it'll be quite (& quiet) noticeable, but that was their intention, apparently.
Let's see if they pushed the needle too far in the opposite direction.

In a year's time, many current WP's will still be SG with soft landings. (As an aside there's a bunch with a review date of 28th Feb - expiry March 15th due to COVID).

Downgrading Status: Following your Review Date, if after assessing your eligibility to maintain your current Status (see above), you have not met the eligibility requirements to maintain your current Status, your Status will be downgraded to the Status below your current Status.

 

[IainF]

Good lord, someone here is swimming in status heaven
Good luck with it all and keep us updated.

I'm still NB with Qf due to a decade long historical grudge.
I have zero expectations of any special VA Plat+ treatment, although back in 2017, I got sent a pair of Beats Headphones at Christmas alone with a hamper for being a high Sc earner.
That year I hit over 6000 and that was after pushing 1800 to my wife.
I really miss my monthly BNE-LAX returns in J on double SCs.

 

[mke_flyer]

Agree, let’s all petition VA for Beyond Access for Platinum Plus. It would certainly keep me just choosing Virgin without looking very hard at the kangaroo option.

Hopefully some Velocity Team Members / decision makers lurking here or scraping our requests!
BTW had great service from the Australian Based call Centre yesterday

Attending a VFF focus group at the Melbourne offices next week. Will bring this up.

 

[IainF]

Attending a VFF focus group at the Melbourne offices next week. Will bring this up.

Can we send you a wish list please ?

 

[simmomelb]

Attending a VFF focus group at the Melbourne offices next week. Will bring this up.

Thurs 4pm or another session?

Definitely worth bringing up during this session IMO (Beyond Lounges that is).

Will be quite interesting I think.